The described embodiments generally relate to wireless communications devices and computer networks. More particularly, the described embodiments relate to apparatus and methods for determining network access performance of a wireless device based on the analysis of network access-related information collected from the wireless device.
Wireless networking connects one or more wireless devices to a communications network and to other computer devices without a direct electrical connection, such as a copper wire or optical cable. Wireless devices communicate data across a wireless or partially wireless computer network by opening a “data” or “communication” channel on the network such that the device can send and receive data. The wireless devices often have wireless device resources, such as programs and hardware components, which individually and cooperatively operate to use and generate data in accordance to their design and specific protocol or configuration to transmit and receive data on the network. When a wireless device experiences a problem in accessing the wireless network for its designed operation, there is presently a lack of a good solution to measure and report the activities occurring on the device relating to the attempted access to the wireless network. Thus, a determination of problems encountered during network access attempts, and a determination of actual network access performance is difficult to obtain or must be recreated during with tests. For example, recreating an environment and the circumstances surrounding how a wireless device is performing in accessing the network is typically time consuming, as it requires the provisioning of resources to a specified geographical area of the network where access problems have been reported. Typically, such field testing is only performed upon initially setting up a particular type of wireless device, or after access problems have reached the attention of the provider of the wireless network, i.e. the network carrier. Additionally, such field testing can be very time consuming, and is not guaranteed to duplicate the network access environment that may have initially caused network access problems in a given device. Further, such field testing results in the dedication of numerous wireless devices, network testing resources, equipment and personnel to external testing and measurement of network access performance. Thus, once a wireless device is in operation, i.e., in use by the commercial/private owner, the actual network access performance data, such as number of access attempts, successful and unsuccessful, etc., is typically unknown to the network carrier with regard that specific device or networked area.
Another complicating factor in understanding and tracking the network access performance of a wireless device is interference from external testing and measurement equipment, and/or from other wireless devices. For example, in a wireless device such as a cellular phone, various analyzers are serially connected to the phone and input and/or measure various access-related parameters. Further, such measurements typically involve driving around a large number of cellular phones through a predetermined area to determine their access performance data in that area under varying environmental conditions. In such a test set up, the various external devices, and the presence of a number of other wireless devices in close proximity, change the radio frequency environment and make it difficult if not impossible to create an environment experienced by a wireless device in actual operation. Further, these field tests result in collecting access performance data in a testing mode, which as noted above, may be a different than is actually experienced during actual operation of a wireless device.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus and method that allows for efficient, comprehensive collection and reporting of wireless device network accessing performance.